S/V Oz

I’ve mentioned the sailing vessel Oz in several of my posts and wanted to pass along more information on them.

We met Paul, the owner of Oz, and his crew, Clay, in Summerside PEI. They arrived a few days before us and left the day after we arrived.

Due to the approaching hurricane and the lack of safe moorings along the way to ride out a hurricane, they came back to Summerside. They tied Oz to the dock behind us.

We spent the week together exploring Summerside, chatting, and prepping the boats while we waited for the storm to hit. And, we rode the storm out together.

When the storm finally hit, it was comforting knowing they were there and ready to lend a hand if needed.

We both left Summerside the same day. They were planning on doing day trips and anchor at night. We planned on pushing through and sailing at night. Because of our different plans, we wouldn’t be meeting up again.

Sue and I have been planning on holding up in Norfolk until November and the end of hurricane season. So, we exchanged our contact information and planned on catching up with Oz in Norfolk.

Clay is from the Norfolk area and that’s where he’s planning on leaving Oz. Paul would be picking up new crew and continuing his journey south.

As fate would have it, once we got to Canso and the Atlantic, weather forced us to hold up a few days, long enough for Oz to catch up with us. We had pizza and beers and said our goodbyes.

Again, we left Canso the same day. They were going to anchor at night and we were going to sail through the night. Again, we planned on see each other in Norfolk.

Well, the sailing was so good, Oz decided to sail through the night. Unlike me, they didn’t slow down and arrived in Halifax at 3AM looking for their dock.

When we arrived at 10AM, there was Clay waiting for us. A very pleasant surprise.

Now, we’re heading to Portland Maine. I’m hoping to meet up with them again, but we’ll see. We’re leaving today and sailing slow while we wait for more favorable winds on the last half of the trip. The last I heard from Oz, they’re leaving on Tuesday and sailing fast. We’ll see what happens.

Paul, the owner of Oz, is from New Zealand. He purchased her in Toronto and is taking her home to New Zealand.

When Sue and I first saw Oz, we were scratching our heads trying to figure out what flag she was flying. It’s not everyday you run into a New Zealand flag. And what an adventure he has planned.